Developing Didcot

I've just posted this as a comment on Anna's blog but thought I'd repeat it here.

A lot of the roads in Didcot only got completed by the developers at the last moment when they were desparate for the contracts to build the next swathe of soulless boxes on the next expansion. The fact that completion of the roads, traffic calming measures (which still don't exist) and shops was in their original contracts was irrelevant. Interestingly, Oxfordshire County Council "lost" the original agreements.

Also, planning permission was almost granted for one of the largest grain silos in Europe to the north of Didcot. When residents in Ladygrove complained, the argument was that as Didcot was already "damaged" (OCC's words) by the Power Station and railway they could virtually build whatever they liked around Didcot.

The council have just started looking at the traffic calming on Mersey Way (the road that leads through the centre of Ladygrove. However, their "consultation" was to post a letter to residents of Cow Lane and the two streets that run directly off this, a total of about 30 houses. The measures will affect a few thousand households! There is no Ladygrove Resident's Association, but there are plenty of noticeboards, a newsletter and other means of communication.

The measures themselves do not really go far enough. For example, there are a series of humped crossings where footpaths cross roads. According to OCC, these represent right of way to the pedestrian, However, they are not Zebra crossings nor are they marked as such. The result is that neither car drivers nor pedestrians are clear over who has the right of way! All we would ask for is a little thought to go into these matters...